Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies

Rebelo, A, Loturco, I, Pereira, JR, Martinho, DV, Valente-dos-Santos, J, and Broek, GV. Impact of congested match schedules on countermovement jump metrics in elite volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a congested match schedule on various countermovement jump (CMJ) metrics recorded across the braking, transfer, propulsive, and flight phases of the CMJ. Fourteen male elite volleyball players were monitored across 7 microcycles, with CMJ assessments conducted at 14 time points using portable force plates. Repeated measures analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc tests and coefficient of variation (CV) analysis were used to analyze the data. The CVs for all metrics indicated a moderate variability between microcycles and low variability between the beginning and end of the weeks. Significant variability was observed in key performance metrics, including peak propulsive power (p < 0.001, partial eta squared [ηp2] = 0.336), peak propulsive velocity (p = 0.005, ηp2 = 0.207), propulsive phase duration (p = 0.008, ηp2 = 0.197), and jump momentum (p = 0.019, ηp2 = 0.225), across microcycles. These findings indicate that these CMJ metrics may be used as sensitive indicators of fatigue and performance changes during intense training and competitive periods. The total score of athleticism, calculated by averaging a set of standardized scores from multiple tests or repeated measures of the same test, for the propulsive and flight phases, proved to be particularly useful in providing a comprehensive view of the neuromuscular status. This emphasizes the importance of recording and analyzing a range of CMJ metrics to optimize training and recovery strategies in elite volleyball players.

Adolescents who possess environmental health literacy are more equipped to handle the effects of the environment on their health. This study uses data from Portugal’s 2022 HBSC survey to investigate the environmental health literacy (EHL) of teenagers. The Environmental Health Literacy Scale (EHLS) was verified by confirmatory component analysis. Within the framework of an ecosystem, this study investigates factors related to health and well-being. There are 7355 adolescents in the sample. EHLS_Social Norms and participation in volunteering activities were found to be significant predictors of EHL_Knowledge, which explained 25.2% of the variance in the final model. EHLS_Social Norms and EHLS_Knowledge accounted for 42.9% of the variance in EHL_Behaviors, while school grade was adversely connected with pro-environmental behavior. While actions and knowledge were major positive predictors, gender and school grades showed negative relationships, and EHL_Social Norms accounted for 46% of the variance. This study establishes a valid measure of environmental health literacy in adolescents, informing science education strategies and public health interventions.

Institutions play a vital role in restricting or encouraging the performance of any economic agent. In this context, fintechs represent a vector of exponential change in the global financial system and its institutions. However, despite the existing relationship between fintechs and institutions, there is a need for more studies exploring the connections between them. Beginning with a framework that integrates aspects of the relation between fintechs and institutions in the financial system, the objective of this article is to empirically demonstrate the interaction between fintechs and financial system institutions in an emerging country. To do so, the chosen research method was an embedded case study, which involved documental analysis and semi-structured interviews conducted with different agents in the Brazilian financial system, belonging to the following categories: technology providers, fintechs, regulatory institutions, financial institutions, and consumers. The findings validate the applicability of the theoretical framework, highlighting that fintechs drive institutional changes across stakeholders with different characteristic traits. Based on these results, we created theoretical propositions that guide future studies on the topic of fintechs and institutions. This study’s contributions provide valuable insights for financial policymakers, regulators, and technology providers, particularly regarding the adaptation of regulatory frameworks and technological infrastructures in emerging economies. For policymakers, this study suggests guidelines to foster financial inclusion through fintech initiatives, while managers are encouraged to develop strategies that reduce operational gaps in digital financial services.

Background Compliance with the WHO 24‐Hour Movement Guidelines (i.e., physical activity, screen time and sleep duration) has been reported in studies comprising children in the early years. Despite the importance of these behaviours for healthy development, there is limited data on the proportion of toddlers who meet these recommendations. This study reported the compliance with the 24‐h movement behaviours guidelines among low‐income Brazilian toddlers. Methods Physical activity (PA) was objectively measured using Actigraph wGT3X accelerometer in 144 toddlers (73 girls; 12–35 months of age). Sleep duration and screen time were parent‐reported. Descriptive analyses were performed, and toddlers were classified as compliant/noncompliant with the 24‐h movement guidelines, according to age and sex. The chi‐square test and the Mann–Whitney test were used to explore differences and association according to age and sex. Results Only 21% of the assessed toddlers complied with the overall movement behaviours guidelines. The highest prevalence of compliance was observed for PA among both boys and girls (98.63% and 98.59%, respectively), and among 1‐ and 2‐year‐old toddlers (100% and 97.61%, respectively). In contrast, the lowest compliance rates were observed for screen time (23.94% for boys and 32.87% for girls; and 16.66% for 1‐year‐old and 36.90% for 2‐year‐old toddlers). More than 60% of the assessed toddlers complied with sleep duration recommendation (74.64% and 67.12% for boys and girls, respectively; 73.33% and 69.04%, for 1‐year‐old and 2‐year‐olds, respectively). Conclusion Implementing strategies to encourage toddlers’ compliance with the 24‐h movement guidelines in Brazilian low‐income families should focus on maintaining PA levels and reducing screen time.

‘Marriage equality’ has been a widely used slogan and mobilizing concept for LGBTQ+ rights’ movements across the globe striving for formal recognition for ‘same-sex’ or ‘same-gender’ marriages. In this article, we critically interrogate the terminology and political rationality that have given shape to ‘marriage equality’ campaigns. We demonstrate the structural erasure of non-monogamous relations and populations from the changes hoped for and envisioned in these mobilizations. The lack of any genuine and substantial concern with consensual non-monogamies (CNMs) from most of the literature in the field highlights the close entanglement of marriage with monogamy. As a result, ideas are scarce about how meaningful and adequate legal recognition and social policy provisions for a wide range of intimate, sexual, familial, and/or caring bonds or constellations on the CNM continuum could look like. We argue that the critique of the mononormativity inherent to marriage is fundamental to understanding the role of this in the 21st century. We identify the roots of the mononormativity of marriage in its governmental role as a necropolitical and biopolitical technology, evidenced by its ‘civilizing’ function in white settler colonial projects. Because of this, an expansion of the call for equality to include non-monogamous populations does not resolve but rather aggravates the problem. We conclude that any truly queer politics of CNM consequently needs to be anti-marriage.

Background Caregivers of people with mild forms of cognitive decline, namely mild cognitive impairment (MCI), are subjected to caregiver burden. In recent years, a major breakthrough was the possibility of diagnosing Alzheimer's disease (AD) reliably in patients that present with MCI, as required for the use of the recently approved anti‐amyloid therapies. We aimed to examine the caregiver burden in caregivers of patients with MCI due to AD, describe how caregiver burden evolves with time, and determine caregiver baseline factors that might predict the progression of burden. Methods Twenty‐five dyads of community‐dwelling patients and caregivers were consecutively recruited from a memory outpatient clinic, after receiving the diagnosis of MCI due to AD. Caregiver burden was measured with the Zarit Burden Inventory (ZBI), life satisfaction with Satisfaction With Life Scale, depressive symptoms with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies‐Depression Scale (CES‐D), anxiety symptoms with the State Anxiety Subscale of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and patient neuropsychiatric symptoms with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Results At baseline, the mean ZBI score was 24.5 ± 15.2 and correlated positively with caregiver CES‐D and STAI scores and with patient neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI‐frequency × severity) and distress felt by the caregiver (NPI‐distress). At follow‐up (17.7 ± 9.4 months) the mean ZBI score increased to 31.4 ± 16.3 ( P < 0.001); however, no baseline caregiver or patient characteristics were identified associated with the evolution of caregiver burden. Conclusions Caregivers of patients who received a diagnosis of MCI due to AD report substantial burden, that increased with time. Future studies should investigate caregiver characteristics that may predict burden progression and help delineate strategies to minimise it.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), mainly produced by gut microbiota through the fermentation process of dietary fibers and proteins, are crucial to human health, with butyrate, a famous four-carbon SCFA, standing out for its inevitably regulatory impact on both gut and immune functions. Within this narrative review, the vital physiological functions of SCFAs were examined, with emphasis on butyrate’s role as an energy source for colonocytes and its ability to enhance the gut barrier while exhibiting anti-inflammatory effects. Knowledge of butyrate synthesis, primarily generated by Firmicutes bacteria, can be influenced by diets with specifically high contents of resistant starches and fiber. Butyrate can inhibit histone deacetylase, modulate gene expression, influence immune functionality, and regulate tight junction integrity, supporting the idea of its role in gut barrier preservation. Butyrate possesses systemic anti-inflammatory properties, particularly, its capacity to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and maintain immune homeostasis, highlighting its therapeutic potential in managing dysbiosis and inflammatory diseases. Although butyrate absorption into circulation is typically minimal, its broader health implications are substantial, especially regarding obesity and type 2 diabetes through its influence on metabolic regulation and inflammation. Furthermore, this narrative review thoroughly examines butyrate’s growing recognition as a modulator of neurological health via its interaction with the gut–brain axis. Additionally, butyrate’s neuroprotective effects are mediated through activation of specific G-protein-coupled receptors, such as FFAR3 and GPR109a, and inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs). Research indicates that butyrate can alleviate neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, autism spectrum disorder, and Huntington’s disease, by reducing neuroinflammation, enhancing neurotransmitter modulation, and improving histone acetylation. This focus will help unlock its full therapeutic potential for metabolic and neurological health, rather than exclusively on its well-known benefits for gut health, as these are often interconnected.

Peripheral complete blood cell count (CBC) and blood ratios, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), neutrophil-to-red blood cell ratio (NRR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), have been used in the diagnosis and prognosis of several cancers; however, their relevance in canine splenic hemangiosarcoma (HSA) remains to be investigated. This study investigated whether CBC, NLR, NRR, and PLR could be diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in dogs with splenic HSA. Analyzing medical records of 154 dogs undergoing splenectomy from 2018 to 2022, we found that dogs diagnosed with splenic HSA (n = 63) had significantly higher neutrophil counts (14.9 ± 9.7 vs. 12.6 ± 9.6; p < 0.001), increased NRR (3.7 ± 2.6 vs. 2.7 ± 3.7; p < 0.001), lower platelet counts (145 ± 111 vs. 270 ± 213; p < 0.001), and reduced PLR (139.4 ± 160.0 vs. 259.9 ± 278.0; p < 0.001) compared to dogs with other splenic lesions. This study also identified a higher risk of relapse and mortality associated with increased NRR (p < 0.001 and p = 0.012, respectively) and an inverse relationship with PLR (p = 0.015 and p = 0.033, respectively), whereas NLR showed no significant association. The multivariate survival analysis identified NRR as an independent prognostic factor for DFI [hazard ratio (1.837); 95% confidence interval (1.147–2.942); p = 0.011], while for OS, the association did not reach statistical significance [hazard ratio (1.510); 95% confidence interval (0.985–2.314); p = 0.059]. These findings highlight the potential of NRR and PLR as biomarkers for assessing diagnosis and prognosis in canine splenic HSA, advocating for further validation in the future.

Background Palliative care teams’ support practices for bereavement vary substantially. Clinical guidelines are needed to promote concerted, evidence-based intervention. The goal of the present study is to identify and synthesize the principles and clinical guidelines that ensure best practices in bereavement support for family caregivers accompanied in palliative care. Methods A scoping review was conducted based on a systematic search of articles in academic databases (EBSCO, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Scopus) and Google (2010–2024). The review included articles focused on the principles, guidelines, and clinical recommendations for bereavement support for adult family caregivers in palliative care. Quality appraisal of guidelines was conducted using the AGREE II instrument. Results Of the 1,489 references identified, 20 documents were included, mostly governmental or institutional norms and clinical guidelines from gray literature. Quality appraisal revealed gaps in evidence selection, resource implications, updates and monitoring criteria. Eight fundamental principles were identified, from which several clinical guidelines were derived, organized according to the moments of assessment and intervention throughout the bereavement process, including pre and post-death period: (1) organizing support for the family caregiver; (2) assessing needs and establishing a care plan; (3) ensuring information and support for the family caregiver; (4) preparing for death; (5) support at the time of death; and (6) bereavement support post-death. In addition to universal support and information measures, regular assessment procedures should be adopted for timely referrals based on individual needs. Discussion These guidelines cover the temporal variation of care and the multidimensional and multiple-actor nature of palliative care. Implementing these guidelines and evaluating their impact will allow for the standardization of best practices and improve the quality of bereavement support in palliative care.

Background/Objectives: Self-objectification theory posits that objectification of people’s bodies, as a synonym for self-worth, translates into body surveillance and dissatisfaction, which has a negative impact on both social and emotional adjustment. According to empirical data based on cognitive models, body dissatisfaction translates into cognitive distraction during sexual activity, affecting sexual response. However, the association of body dissatisfaction with other sexual outcomes, such as satisfaction and distress, in heterosexual men is understudied in comparison to women. Methods: This observational, cross-sectional, and correlational study used a convenience sample of 597 heterosexual males with a mean age of 35.52 (SD = 8.78) obtained through a web survey. Results: Results suggested that cognitive distraction mediated the association between body dissatisfaction, sexual distress, and satisfaction. A moderating effect of age was found, detecting a decrease in the mediated effect of cognitive distraction as men aged, reinforcing the idea of age as a protective factor. Conclusions: Our study further supports cognitive models that are useful to understand sexual outcomes and not merely sexual function and reinforce the existence of heterosexual men’s body dissatisfaction and its detrimental effects, suggesting that health practitioners should assess this phenomenon in a context related to sexual health.

(1) Background: Teacher job satisfaction is critical to a school’s organizational development and students’ academic success. This study investigates the job satisfaction of first- to ninth-grade teachers, focusing on the individual and organizational variables that influence and explain this phenomenon. (2) Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, analyzing studies published between 2017 and 2022 in the Scopus, ERIC, and SciELO databases. A total of 32 studies were included in the review. (3) Results: The results indicate that demographic variables (33.5%) are the most frequently examined at the individual level concerning teacher job satisfaction. At the organizational level, variables associated with school principals are the most prominently represented (12%). (4) Conclusions: This review identifies a significant gap in the literature, with limited attention to individual and organizational variables. This finding underscores the need for further research on emerging factors, such as the impact of administrative burdens on teacher satisfaction. Additionally, this study highlights the importance of accounting for different countries’ socio-cultural and institutional contexts when exploring factors that influence teacher job satisfaction.

This study investigates the influence of wave-climate datasets derived from in situ measurements and reanalysis models on predictive modelling accuracy for coastline evolution, focusing on the IJmuiden coastal stretch in The Netherlands. By analyzing wave parameters, sediment dynamics, and nourishment interventions, the research evaluates the performance of a numerical model in simulating shoreline changes over a 40-year period. Using the LTC (Long-Term Configuration) model, scenarios incorporating artificial sand nourishment volumes of 200,000 m³/year and 250,000 m³/year were tested against conditions without nourishment. The results highlighted the critical role of significant wave height, direction, and dataset variability in sediment accretion and erosion patterns. Datasets from in situ measurements (Measured-YM6) and reanalysis sources (ERA5, AENWS-WPR, and AENWS-WPR North) demonstrate variable performance, with ERA5 proving to be the most reliable under both nourished and non-nourished scenarios. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating high-resolution wave datasets into numerical models to improve predictions, optimize nourishment strategies, and enhance coastal resilience against erosion. The study underscores the necessity of nourishment interventions to mitigate sediment loss, stabilize shorelines, and support sustainable coastal-management practices in the face of climate change.

Background Mitigation measures implemented in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic led to significant changes in maternity care across Europe, including restrictions on companions during labor and birth. This cross‐sectional study explores the association between the presence of a companion of choice and a positive perception of the birth experience. Additionally, it explores the association between health professionals' attention, assistance, and availability during labor and birth and a positive perception of birth. Methods We utilized a structured, validated online questionnaire, available in 25 languages, to assess the quality of maternal care during the COVID‐19 pandemic from women's perspectives. We conducted logistic regression to explore associations between variables related to the presence of a companion of choice, health professionals' attention, assistance, and availability, and positive perceptions of birth, when controlled for confounders, including birth mode and medical interventions. Results Responses from 48,039 women across 20 countries in the WHO European Region were included. Always having a companion of choice during birth (aOR: 2.11) and always receiving adequate care from health professionals (assistance aOR: 2.12, attention aOR: 36.64, availability aOR: 2.12) were associated with positive birth perception. Instrumental births (aOR: 0.76), episiotomies (aOR: 0.74), fundal pressure (aOR: 0.52), and cesarean births (planned aOR: 0.80, unplanned prelabor aOR: 0.60, unplanned in‐labor aOR: 0.52) were associated with less positive birth perceptions. Discussion This study highlights the critical role of having a chosen companion and receiving adequate attention, assistance, and availability from health professionals in promoting positive birth perceptions, even in times of crisis such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. Ensuring the presence of a companion of choice and comprehensive professional support is crucial for delivering high‐quality, respectful maternity care.

Ensuring food and nutritional security has been a top concern on the global development agenda [...]

Energy planning in systems heavily influenced by hydroelectric power is based on assessing the availability of water in the future. In Brazil, based on the soil moisture active passive, the National Electricity System Operator defines electricity dispatch concerning a stochastic optimization problem. Currently, machine learning models are an alternative for improving forecasts, and could be a promising solution for predicting reservoir levels at hydroelectric dams. In this paper, neural hierarchical interpolation for time series (NHITS) is applied to improve forecasts and thus help decision-making in the management of electric power systems. The NHITS model achieved a root mean square error of 4.64×10−4 for a 1-hour forecast horizon, and 1.03×10−3 for a 10-hour forecast horizon, being superior to multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network, long short-term memory (LSTM), convolutional neural network with long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM), recurrent neural network (RNN), Dilated RNN, temporal convolutional neural (TCN), neural basis expansion analysis for interpretable time series forecasting (N-BEATS), and deep non-parametric time series forecaster (DeepNPTS) deep learning approaches.

This paper investigates the performance of 16 Large Language Models (LLMs) in automating LoRaWAN-related engineering tasks involving optimal placement of drones and received power calculation under progressively complex zero-shot, natural language prompts. The primary research question is whether lightweight, locally executed LLMs can generate correct Python code for these tasks. To assess this, we compared locally run models against state-of-the-art alternatives, such as GPT-4 and DeepSeek-V3, which served as reference points. By extracting and executing the Python functions generated by each model, we evaluated their outputs on a zero-to-five scale. Results show that while DeepSeek-V3 and GPT-4 consistently provided accurate solutions, certain smaller models—particularly Phi-4 and LLaMA-3.3—also demonstrated strong performance, underscoring the viability of lightweight alternatives. Other models exhibited errors stemming from incomplete understanding or syntactic issues. These findings illustrate the potential of LLM-based approaches for specialized engineering applications while highlighting the need for careful model selection, rigorous prompt design, and targeted domain fine-tuning to achieve reliable outcomes.

Objective The present study aims to study the psychometric qualities of the Higher Education Self-efficacy Scale, applied to a particular group of students, generically called “over the age of 23”. Method This scale was administered online to a convenience sample, consisting of 250 Portuguese students. Results Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed an acceptable fit of the original three-factor model and of a proposed second-order model. The results also revealed internal consistency reliability evidence (assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability and omega coefficients) and measurement invariance across both groups defined by employability as a reason to enroll in higher education. Conclusion High correlations between the three first-order factors and lack of discriminant validity evidence (assessed using Average Variance Extracted) between two of them raised questions about subscore utility, with the further analysis pointing to the lack of sufficient evidence that these should be reported instead of just a single total score.

This study introduces a novel one-dimensional Fractional Time–Space Stochastic Advection–Diffusion Equation that revolutionizes the modeling of moisture transport within atmospheric boundary layers adjacent to oceanic surfaces. By synthesizing fractional calculus, advective transport mechanisms, and pink noise stochasticity, the proposed model captures the intricate interplay between temporal memory effects, non-local turbulent diffusion, and the correlated-fluctuations characteristic of complex ocean–atmosphere interactions. The framework employs the Caputo fractional derivative to represent temporal persistence and the fractional Laplacian to model non-local turbulent diffusion, and incorporates a stochastic term with a 1/f power spectral density to simulate environmental variability. An efficient numerical solution methodology is derived utilizing complementary Fourier and Laplace transforms, which elegantly converts spatial fractional operators into algebraic expressions and yields closed-form solutions via Mittag–Leffler functions. This method’s application to a benchmark coastal domain demonstrates that stronger advection significantly increases the spatial extent of conditions exceeding fog formation thresholds, revealing advection’s critical role in moisture transport dynamics. Numerical simulations demonstrate the model’s capacity to reproduce both anomalous diffusion phenomena and realistic stochastic variability, while convergence analysis confirms the numerical scheme’s robustness against varying noise intensities. This integrated fractional stochastic framework substantially advances atmospheric moisture modeling capabilities, with direct applications to meteorological forecasting, coastal climate assessment, and environmental engineering.